Thursday, 6 June 2013

The normal tranquillity of Ladybird Land has been rather disrupted lately. For one reason or another, there have been lots of journalists and programme makers looking into the subject. The main reason seems to be the forthcoming 'centenary' of Ladybird. Centenary of what? You may ask. Good question, as the the books we most associate with Ladybird first made their appearance in 1940.

But the trade name 'Ladybird' was first used by Wills and Hepworth some time before that - when the commercial printing company started to publish rather rough and ready children's books when there was little other work around. You can find a picture of a typical pre-1940s Ladybird Books here:http://www.easyontheeye.net/ladybird/prewar/chums.htm

Apparently the establishment of the brand is the centenary in question.

In addition, and I think co-incidentally, the One Show - BBC1, has latched on to ITA. The post I did about ITA Ladybird Books has consistently attracted more comments than anything else I've written, which just goes to show how little there must be out there on this fascinating topic. Here was my original post.

I'll keep you posted about further programmes as I find out more about the breeze rippling the Ladybird pond at the moment.